July 2023 Update
Happy Summertime Indies!
Summer is in full swing! Hope you have your sunglasses ready and sunscreen on, and ready for some summer excursions (after your latest dev milestone, of course).
Upcoming Events
Seattle Indies Quiz for Cause – We’re going to be having a trivia night on July 12th, 7-9pm at Teku Tavern (552 Denny Way, Seattle). There will be a $10 cover charge at the door, which will go towards supporting the community! It’ll be a fun way to give back.
PAX is coming back in September, and PAX Rising submission closed on June 19th. Good luck to all that applied, Click Here to learn more. Attendee badges are on sale now.
Seattle Indies Expo is coming back as well! It’s our own local event (coinciding with PAX), showcasing the best games from PNW. Game submissions are closed and judging will begin this weekend! On top of that, we are always looking for Volunteers. Click Here to Learn all about it and the opportunities!
Join us on Sunday, July 30th at Madrona Park for the annual Seattle Indies Summer Picnic! You’re welcome to bring kids, family, friends, and pets along as well. We’ll have burgers, hotdogs, veggie options, sides, soft drinks, and snacks. Feel free to bring your own favorite dishes to share! There will be lawn games like bocce, cornhole, badminton, and more. You can also bring your own games for friends to play! If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we can hide in the shelter instead.
IndieCade festival (Taking place in California) is coming in October, it’s a great celebration of the art of video games. The submissions deadline has passed but you can still attend! Click here to read more about the event.
FYI if you want to get a list of all upcoming game event shows and get ready early, The Indie House has published this fantastic list of upcoming festival that’s exactly that. Well worth a bookmark!
Monthly Events
The Eastside Meet & Drink is happening at our new venue Pint & Pie Public House on July 11, at 7pm! Keep in mind it happens on the first Tuesday of every month. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a drink, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
Northside Social is happening on July 13 at 6pm at Distant Worlds coffee shop! It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a coffee/tea, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
Seattle Indies Board Gaming Meetup Join us Sunday July 16 at 3:30pm at Phoenix Comics and Games on Capitol Hill to play some of your favorite tabletop games or learn new ones with your friends from the Seattle Indies community.
Feedback Circle happens every other month on the second Wednesday right on our Discord. Time to stop coding, animating, making art or audio or adding that amazing new feature you thought of while you were falling asleep last night and come to Feedback Circle to get some real responses to what you have been working on from game creators in our community like yourself.
Seattle Indies Social is happening July 18 at 7pm at Optimism Brewery. Join us in Capitol Hill for some well-deserved mingling, drinks, and socialization! Make some new friends, catch up with old ones, and find out what the community’s up to. This month a delegation of developers from Australia will be joining us on a post-GDC visit to Seattle so come out and say hello to our Aussie friends.
Diversity Collective+ Coffee Chat is happening Saturday July 23rd from 12-2pm. This is an in-person event; the location is at Tailwind Café & Bar inside of Good Weather Bicycle. Come to network, socialize, and discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion in game development! Folks that identify as an underrepresented minority in the game industry are welcome.
The Game Club is happening on July 19 on our Discord. What a book club is to a discussion of literature, this event is to a discussion of game design. Every month, we agree to play a game, then meet to discuss and analyze its design and presentation. This month’s game is DRANIUS.
The Writer’s Room is happening on July 27th at 6:30pm on our Discord at. Bring your scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or whatever you’re working on to share and get feedback on your storytelling.
Indie Co-working Support Group in-person will take place every Saturday, from 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM PST, at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Masks will be enforced and vax cards will be checked at the door. Seattle Center wifi will be available for use. Please bring everything you need to be productive. The online Coffee Break session will still be available to anyone who isn’t ready for in person events yet or doesn’t have the ability to attend the in person event. We will be meeting every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at AIE going forward. We have also added a Co-working voice channel in Discord for people to use any time they want a quiet space to work alongside their peers.
Indie Coffee Break – Once a week, take a Coffee Break with our Discord community, and chat with your local game devs! Meet new folks. Talk about games. Share your work. Ask for help / feedback. Commiserate over problems. Collaborate on solutions. Give high-fives. We’re a weekly social work group for game devs of all levels and disciplines. Join us on Discord every Saturday from 1pm to 7pm! Drop by anytime; folks usually drop in and out throughout the day. Coffee Break also happens on an impromptu basis throughout the month so if you see folks hanging out in the channel feel free to drop in and join the conversation.
Local Dev News
Vangi published a significant update to their game potworki, introducing LEVELS. It’s a very unique new concept that no other game has ever done, you must try it! Click Here to be amazed!
4D and nuno shared a “Web Game” they cleaned up a bit based on recent play testing. Give it a try here!
Roxy shared a big update for Fungal Fantasy, it’d be great if everyone could check it out! Here’s the link.
Max T shared some cute models done in Blender and Substance Painter, check them out here
Daniel Peterson announced that their Game Zombies Noir just dropped on the Meta Quest Store! Take a look!
Harassment Policy, AAPI, Black Lives Matter, and Resources
Seattle Indies stands with the AAPI community. We are here for our members who have been affected by the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes both locally and nationally. For further resources to educate yourself on the issue and how to take action, here is a useful link: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Seattle Indies is having in person meetups again and we need everyone to get vaccinated and boosted against the COVID-19 virus as soon as you are able. The Washington State Department of Health has this website for information on where you can get vaccinated in your area.
Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared. We strongly condemn the actions by people in power preying on the dreams of vulnerable people trying to make their way in the industry and strive to build an inclusive community that welcomes all minorities to provide a safe environment and a better vision for the game industry.
While our code of conduct states a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind we are especially sensitive to the daily challenges faced by womxn due to the ingrained sexism that has existed in the structure of the games industry for far too long. We are actively working to build a better community of game developers and we all need to do better.
Additionally, Board Member August Belhumeur has offered to be a personal resource for anyone who needs help, someone to talk to or some guidance on next steps if you have experienced harassment in the industry either at our events or elsewhere. She can be reached at august@seattleindies.org.
Our friends at Take This Org have compiled valuable resources for anyone in immediate need of professional help for their situation.
Lastly, Seattle Indies and Diversity Collective+ support Black Lives Matter. Here are some resources compiled by Diversity Collective+ for how you can offer support, whether this is financial, contributing to petitions, preparing for protests, or getting informed. If you have additional resources, comment below and we will add them.
As always, keep an eye on our Discord for any last-minute news and discussion, and let us know about any projects you’re working on that you’d like shared on our Steam or Itch collections or tweeted about from @SeattleIndies!
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